February 2020
The Vikings of Comedy Live Stand-Up
Get out of the gloom of February and join us for some live stand-up comedy! We’ve got a packed lineup featuring Andrew Sleighter, Vanessa Dawn, Cameron Mazzuca, and host Travis Nelson! Andrew Sleighter started in comedy looking for the perfect funny line to open a biography. Since then, Andrew’s laid-back style and clever writing has won him appreciation from fans and respect from his peers. Andrew wrote and blogged for the Sports Show with Norm Macdonald on Comedy Central and…
Find out more »Skandia Friday dance
The Swedish dance Sväv will be taught from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sväv is that cool variation that you sometimes see folks doing when they tire of ordinary polka. If that polka tune seems to have more lilt to it than bounce, this counterclockwise turn will provide hours of entertainment...or minutes...or at least a few seconds. At 8:30, we have the Metrognomes playing for us. This will be a great evening of Skandia favorites, all of them well played.
Find out more »
Mostly Nordic: Mother Sweden (Sweden)
Special note: Conductor Gary Cannon will give a pre-concert talk at 2:30. Please come early to attend this fascinating discussion! Emerald Ensemble Gary Cannon, conductor Some of the twentieth century's most sumptuous choral composers hailed from Sweden: from early Romantic patriotism of Wilhelm Stenhammar, contrapuntal craftsmanship of Otto Olsson, simple folk songs of Hugo Alfvén, and the impressionism of Hildor Lundvik. More recent years have brought modernist tone-clusters of Sven-David Sandström and minimalist tranquility of his brother, Jan. The Emerald…
Find out more »March 2020
Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag Nordic Youth Concert
Come out and hear this amazing Seattle-based group of young musicians who are carrying forward the Nordic folk music tradition! The group was started more than 50 years ago by Gordon Tracie and last year they celebrated 11 years under the leadership of Martha Levenson, who was awarded the prestigious Award of Merit by the Swedish Council of America in April 2016 for her work with this children's group. The Seattle Lilla Spelmanslag, currently made up talented young musicians ages…
Find out more »
Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series: Finnish Fanfare
Finland's long-standing brass band tradition started with military bands accompanying kings and czars or leading soldiers as they marched, but it quickly evolved into entertainment for the common people at folk dances and hunting parties, and then into the world of jazz. It even followed Finnish immigrants to America. The highly-acclaimed Cascadia Brass returns to Mostly Nordic to take us on a tour of the Finnish brass ensemble tradition throughout its evolution and history. It is certain to be a…
Find out more »April 2020
POSTPONED: The Complete Songs of Edvard Grieg: The Human Condition
POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 For our final concert of the Complete Songs of Edvard Grieg will bring all three artists together to perform some of Grieg’s most poignant songs to texts by A. O. Vinje and Otto Benzon. Soprano Laura Loge will sing Grieg’s beloved Vinje Songs opus 33 plus a few posthumously published songs and baritone Alan Dunbar will sing Grieg’s two final sets of songs with texts by Otto Benzon, opuses 69 and 70. Grieg’s songs to Vinje…
Find out more »The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc in concert
Epic Fiddle from Norway, Sweden, & the Shetland Isles Saturday, April 4th 7:30pm Co-sponsored by Seattle Folklore Society and Skandia Folkdance Society. We are truly excited to welcome back The Nordic Fiddler Bloc! This trio is well-known and loved by many in the Pacific Northwest. From the moment Kevin Henderson, Olav Luksengård Mjelva and Anders Hall of The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc first played together in 2009 they felt chemistry in the sound they created. Some seven hundred gigs later, playing…
Find out more »
Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series: Norwegian Suites for Strings
This unusual string trio—violin, viola, and piano—gives us a chance to hear the beauty and richness of close harmonies inspired by Norway's landscapes, folk music, and culture. These masterful and award-winning performers will immerse you in beautiful suites and sonatas by Edvard Grieg, Bjarne Brustad, and Johan Halvorsen, which will be complimented by a world-premiere performance of a brand-new work based on Norwegian musical themes by composer and Norwegian music specialist, Steven Luksan. Angela Drăghicescu, piano Espen Lilleslåtten, violin Elias…
Find out more »May 2020
Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series: Russian Kaleidoscope
This year's "Nordic Neighbor" concert features the music of Russia. Russia's borders with Norway and Finland have been permeable and flexible from Viking times to modern times, and much of the Karealian region is shared between Finland and Russia. These factors lend themselves to a music just as permeable as their borders. Pacific Northwest Russian chamber music experts Natalya Ageyeva, Alistair MacRae, and Misha Myznikov will guide us into the exciting and luxuriant world of Russian chamber music and songs…
Find out more »March 2023
Nordic Chamber Music – Finland: A Finnish Fiddle Quartet
Seattle-based Skyros Quartet returns to the Nordic Chamber Music 2023 stage with a concert exploring the vast Finnish repertoire for string quartet. This music is as expansive as the Finnish landscape and the the quartet will guide you on an expedition through time and across distances from traditional to romantic to contemporary compositions featuring composers known and unknown. Featuring: The Skyros Quartet Sarah Pizzichemi & Brandon Vance, violin Justin Kurys, viola Willie Braun, cello The 2023 Season of the newly…
Find out more »